Probably from what it was grafted onto.

If you checked earlier, scrutinizing, the flowers may have been different looking too.

It is grafted on a Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) rootstock, and this has sent up some shoots from below the graft.

If you don't like the new branches, prune them off; if you do, keep them. Personally I prefer Wild Cherry to 'Kanzan', much more delicate in appearance, better crown shape, and you get nice cherries to eat! (if they are too bitter to eat fresh, you can still make delicious cherry pie with them).

PS spellcheck: 'Kanzan' (the 'w' is an all-too-common nurseryman's error)

Resin

Thanks for the information. Actually, they told us that it was called a Kwanzai Cherry when we purchased the tree. Took me a few googles to figure out that they just gave us a different name for it (or something).Thanks for the information. I wasn't too sure about how I felt about have a tree that is blooming have pink and half white. But I really like the idea of having the cherries.I like to make jelly and jam.So, I'm glad that I didn't go with my first thought, and have those branches removed back in the spring. The cherries look beautiful. Guess I'll see how they taste! Thanks again for the info!

Enjoy!
{{gwi:379892}}

Wow! My tree doesn't have nearly as many cherries. Maybe because the branches are so young. But now I see what I have to look forward to in the years to come! Which is good, because the birds are eating them faster than I can! :)

If you haven't been spraying those cherries at least every two weeks with pesticide, each one will have a little white worm inside by the pit. At least that's what happens here in Utah and many other places. I just harvested my first really good crop from my Lapins cherry trees, and they're wonderful! But because I only sprayed once about a month ago (it's been a very busy spring with a new baby in the family and a big vacation a few weeks ago!) about 10% of my cherries have worms. So, we're cutting most of them open before we eat them and discarding the wormy ones. But since nothing beats that great feeling of popping a whole cherry in your mouth and letting the juice squirt all over your tongue, I can't resist just eating some of them without checking! A little worm won't kill me, I suppose!

But anyway, I'm not sure you really want a tree that's half Kwanzan and half wild cherry! I'd probably cut off the wild branches and buy a new cherry tree to plant somewhere else nearby.

I do have a related question, though: I have four Kwanzans and one is nearly dead. From what I've observed in my garden, the ones getting less water are healthier. They're in an area with a gravel mulch and they only get water from a drip system. The one dying is in an area that is sprinkled with a groundcover around it. Is that your observation -- that these trees are sensitive to watering and like to be a little dry?

Also, my dying one has suddenly shot out a bunch of suckers at the base -- so, should I be pretty certain it's on wild cherry rootstock? Would that look attractive as a shrubby, multi-trunked tree if I let these suckers grow and cut out the mostly dead Kwanzan from the middle of the clump?

"A little worm won't kill me, I suppose!"

I think I'd rather eat a small insect than a dose of poison spray!

"so, should I be pretty certain it's on wild cherry rootstock?"

Certainly sounds like it. I certainly reckon it would look nice as a shrubby, multi-trunked tree (others might differ, of course!). It will eventually grow rather taller than a 'Kanzan' would.

Looks like I got to repeat yet again . . . Spellcheck: Kanzan. There's no 'w' in the name!

Resin

Pineresin,

Well, one can always wash off pesticide, especially when it's a few weeks old. But I have to admit, sometimes I eat them right off the tree when I'm out there checking on ripeness. I know I shouldn't.

Regarding Kwanzan vs. Kanzan -- you're the first person I've heard say they're supposed to be Kanzan. But I did google search after reading your post and found others who agree with you that Kwanzan is an obsolete spelling of the name. But I've never seen a nursery call them Kanzan. Of course, I don't check regularly!

I've sometimes wondered about the name, because Kwanzan sounds more African then Japanese! Happy Kwanzaa!

Hello there,
I too am also trying to identify a cherry tree in my yard. This tree is about 25 feet tall and has large 20 to 30 petal dark pink blooms, very dark pink, and not delicate looking like the lighter pink blooms nor paperesque. The cherries are very small and range from a darkish red to a sometimes oranagey yellowy browny to red. Again the cherries are very small may be between a centimeter and a half in diameter. They are dry and sour when bitten, almost as if not ripe with a crispy apple type texture, unfamiliar with the gestation periods of cherries I am unsure when these should be ripe, very few cherries have fallen from the tree itself , which leads me to presume that they are not quiet ripe yet. I believe it was in full bloom in late April early May. At times there are not only green leaves but also red.

I am not sure at all that this a a Kanzan Cherry tree, but this seemed the most appropriate topic on which to post instead of starting a new thread.
Thank you and I am terribly sorry I am so long winded.